Grass and other agricultural green crop drying plant



May 1952 E. w. BORROW GRASS AND OTHER AGRICULTURAL GREEN CROP DRYING PLANT Filed April 18. 1949 2 SHEETSSHEET 1 Wax/M Inventor Attorney 5. WE /m Inventor A ltorngy 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 May 20, 1952 E. w. BORROW GRASS AND OTHER AGRICULTURAL GREEN CROP DRYING PLANT Filed April 18, 1949 Patented May 20, 1952 3597,44; GRASS AND OTHER AGRICULTURAL g nger:

Edger Wilfred B rrow, o wnl in Berismwtb Application April 18, 1949, Serial No. 88,088

In Great Britain April 21, 1948 e leimen w .ieree ee relate inerevemeete i 2 elem er si -K e n se er ether ee i uli e reen Wit h P n el fiefiiir hwid i f beforej iryingfthe chaff being fed ir treafrn itis dried it, the

d r. Ae f hi o the in nti n me e d n r i i hi w ie s er the e e p' ee ei iie'fi xterl e k ni e re eteble inn r dr e err he'e e; 1 t e h-eer e? W l e e e i 'e e ee e the like. ied we th eee b tw e h r s n h e e d 2 e e$e t en ee le near the other end, means for so feeding hot air t that s ee he e n i t rass r ike b ted in i wi h 'ie rt e lv d ie n a s when it means f see in a urr t f n t e1 'fihreu h the nner drum an er .ee fe din the partially drie erase t thee eurren thee t'e e es b the ee n th u the inner druni n'd'its drying thereby coinio'ieted, and inei'n's for separating the fully-dried grass from the airciirrent."

Themans for feeding hot air to the space between the 'driims may consist substantiallyjoi means for causing to be" sucked through that space the air which has been used for the final drying operation.

The internal drum, according to a further feature of the invention, is provided with worm wanes or blades upon the exterior, said yanes ieeding the eutgrass along the .drum chamber through which hot air is continually drawn to effect pref drying.

Further features o t e inve ti n wi l be seen r m the ,foll Wi description and drawin s.

F om the nd of the chamb r the cut rass is d awn by a power u l r a vo ume an and lown i to a opp r 9r c lo e t am whieh the erei d ra s is e nt th nte ior 9- th 51W: 51 s r-um thi being fitte w th beetl and peeie ee eeyee whi h and li t and drep the 914i ras e v M: th fiee fin n eteee- =The end 9? the s evin 9 m ee nieeiee in e were in th 9mm ehembe in whieh ep se e dr d erase eel-lemme e pl enee i P e isledenee ,nie t k the e x 0 e he ef i e netting or perforated screen drums through which he ai ee e Whe -e i i eel iee -e l the drums rotating like a, pair of ringer rollers, h e eefle e ne eewe n' he d ueae' le i te' eel e e beeper 9r nte e elee neehipe iet e min heir 3e enem s! t e new?! meme; e e e dr in new cf-r9!!! a t me e ie lire ereh Q11 fired er Q0}??? 9 other emekelees e l ma he need- The eeeee item the fur ieee ar sitewn into en e e ember & "w re; ie iet 9 ei 1e eem t es t euv lydi yiee air a w temperature to the drirldr pa 'v A Refer in te the eeeere e e e ew eee ene 9 ni e9t ee veni en .Fi ere e x3e n w 9? e q ine ta nt F gu e :2 is e ee iieeel e 9i} li e o my??? n. U y

Re e n new to the drew e em er 3 a ne ee e ee erfiei T i m Tfi e in i f d e t ground by meant of plateleg ineinb'ris" 2g:

The green crop and more 15 bunny green r e i w in e ef e hred t hreken u e a b e itete th er moistur eiand s re into drum z't goug a diet}: and peseeri' therethrpugh aswi11"b1furtherfde: ribe nd di eher iee e e-e eb eier h r b from Wh e ii iewli n e i fi' ik o r u lar e eleme air ea 'el liihe' em Pi d eehe es thjme h du t 1 -t e'keiow f n of e elei e e e eei n bee r 'f i wh l 'i t e ee h eell et'eq en if fi ee 1 kn w type of wer iee i e ideviee en e r m he het .ei slee h w ich i o ded a e 3 w th n Qil tee/ r h iy biarnei end e fe' r m x chambe ieete n 2 mm 2 Pee mounted therein nt r al ryin .drugn 3 this be n G nie-9 hr q i" bed}; he a eumaeri n drum .4 y met or t ac at ne en e th fmm 2 b e t l i hert upnerted b whe e er e 5 sup rt the other end of the organ, fit inafdrum itsv proyided with perforated typ pf 'gvahe i ,sa m u ted steree .ree t9 jee e'e i 'e e nrgx mi t h n nor of theiezt pel' a m .3-

lnternel d um 3 ren wed with a ai if entral befile nle ef .9 eneeesl' es shi i n in Fi e 1 and 2 end L heir .of side beiifle'b et n w i h are mounted as' shown in Figures 1 nd 2 'by being eeuresi i .a plurali o len tedin e 'i' ib .1? eer e been plate 9 e d I! ein 'ee d 9 eefleei the e edrie em erees nefi di fi it hl91 l m3- Motive power may be supplied to the drying plant hy an electric motor ,lcfor other 'power'so'ui c hi h qri ee en d and b me'en e .e fi e' 1 n? e iebl u l en b lt m is up l ed e w re; 9 andoth r'i'p ny' and belt ean im ar n 'er- P we 1 w n hii-P t The drying plant is primarily intended for drying green grass which is cut by a chaff cutting machine or like implement into short lengths and if the grass contains stemmy parts these are crushed or pulped in a suitable machine in known manner the material being suitable for being carried by the air suction produced by fan :1 through duct a into the interior of drum 2 in the space between vanes 3a mounted externally upon drum 3. The cut grass may be green or dry or it may be wet due to rain, dew or the like but owing to the perforations in vanes 3a it will be trapped by the vanes and generally falls to the bottom internally in drum 2 where it is moved forward due to the mechanical action of the worm shaped vanes 3a during rotation of drum 3.

Due to the mechanical feeding forward of the material predrying is effected during the passage of the material through the space between the exterior of drum 3 and the interior of drum 2 and finally the cut grass falls or is sucked into collecting box or hopper b from which it is drawn by air suction into fan d which, through duct 6, deposits the cut grass in cyclone from which the hot moist air escapes into the atmosphere, the predried cut grass being fed into worm conveyor 9 and by this into duct h.

This duct h as will be seen in Figure 1 will be provided with an oil burner z the combustion gases from which are mixed with a predetermined amount of cooling air in mixing chamber 7', the temperature of the effluent air-gas mixture being regulated so as to effect drying of predried cut grass in the shortest possible time without risk of scorching or burning the predried cut grass fed into duct h by conveyor 9.

Owing to the predrying of cut grass it is found necessary to rotate conveyor g so as to eject the predried cut grass into duct h at a fairly high speed and in the form of a spray so that the particles of material will be carried by the hot air gas mixture into the interior of drum 3 where it strikes baiiies 9 and I which cause the cut grass to fall into the bottom of drum 3 where it is picked up by agitating ribs I2 which cause lifting and dropping of the grass with consequent agitation during its passage through drum 3.

At the end of drum 3 the cut finally dried grass is drawn by the air draught in between a pair of perforated roller screens 1 and s which rotate within fixed screens t and u and are rotated by belt and pulley means from motor is the cut grass being trapped by the perforated roller screens 1 and s and finally collected by roller 12 which feeds the material in the form of a compressed hand through discharge outlet w.

The drying air after passing internally through drum 3 passes through screen rollers r and s through the perforated screens t and u and through perforated plated portions :1: in a plate member separating the air space between drum 2 'and 3 and the interior of drum 2 as shown in Figure 1.

From the above described construction it will be appreciated that the air suction created by fan at causes drying air and combustion gas mixture to be sucked through duct h from burner 2' and air mixing chamber The air and combustion gas mixture passing through duct It has the predried cut grass ejected or sprayed thereinto so as to carry this forward in the form of a spray or like flakes in a snow storm it being important to avoid the cut grass forming lumps or caking on the walls of the drums as this may cause scorching and burning.

The cut grass is carried internally through the interior of the rotating drying drum thus using dry hot air gas mixture for the final drying of the cut grass.

The temperature of the combustion gas and air mixture is therefore regulated to conform to the rate of feeding of predried cut grass and to the moisture content and nature of the grass.

From the interior of the drum the drying air passes through the grass collector appliance and through dust screens t, u and a: into the space between the outer drum 2 and inner drum 3 where the cut grass is fed in through duct a, the suction from fan (1 extending through the space between drums 2 and 3.

During the passage of the cut shredded or otherwise prepared green and/or Wet grass through the space between drums 2 and 3 the cut grass is exposed to the drying air and combustion gas mixture which has been used for final drying of the cut grass during its passage through the interior drum 3 so that the predrying air stream is partly cooled and carries a certain amount of moisture, there is therefore less risk of burning or scorching of the material during the predrying process and consequently vanes 3a are utilised to feed the material forward slowly churning this up the sides of the walls of the interior of the drum 2, the vanes 3a being perforated so as to permit the passage of the moisture laden drying air through the vanes and furthermore the perforation of vanes 3a prevents the air stream through the passage between these vanes from carrying the partly dried cut grass rapidly through the space between the drums whereby insufficient predrying might be caused.

By the above described construction a cut grass drying plant is obtained in which the cut grass is passed through a space between the interior of an external stationary drum and the exterior of an internal rotating drum in which space predrying takes place, the predried cut grass being finally passed through the interior of the internal rotating drum for final drying and by this construction the thermal efficiency of the plant may be made high and the size of the plant as well as the power for drying a given quantity of grass may be made to compare favourably with known types of grass dryers.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A plant for drying green cut crops or the like comprising an inner drum and an outer drum, said drums being coaxially arranged and having a space therebetween, means at one end of said drums for supplying hot drying gas to said inner drum and to the space between said drums, means at the other end of said outer drum for feeding the crop to be dried into the space between said drums, means for rotating said inner drum, means attached to the outside of said inner drum for moving the crop fed into said space through said space from said last mentioned end of said drums to said first mentioned end to partially dry said crop, means for sucking a current of hot air through said inner drum and means for feeding said partially dried crop into that current of hot air to complete the drying of said crop.

2. A plant for drying green cut crops or the like comprising an inner drum and an outer drum, said drums being coaxially arranged and having a space therebetween, means at one end of said drums for supplying hot drying gas to said inner drum and to the space between said drums,

means at the other end of said outer drum for feeding the crop to be dried into the space between said drums, means for rotating said inner drum, means attached to the outside of said inner drum for moving the crop fed into said space through said space from said last mentioned end of said drums to said first mentioned end to partially dry said crop, a cyclone, a fan for blowing said partially dry crop from said space into said cyclone and for sucking a current of hot air through said inner drum, said cyclone exhausting the moisture removed from said partially dry crop into the atmosphere, and means connected to said cyclone for feeding said partially dried crop into that current of hot air to complete the drying of said crop.

3. A plant for drying green cut crops or the like comprising an inner drum and an outer drum, said drums being coaxially arranged and having a space therebetween, means at one end of said drums for supplying hot drying gas to said inner drum and to the space between said drums, means at the other end of said outer drum for feeding the crop to be dried into the space between said drums, means for rotating said inner drum, means attached to the outside of said inner drum for moving the crop fed into said space through said space from said last mentioned end of said drums to said first mentioned end to partially dry said crop, means for sucking a current of hot air through said inner drum, said last mentioned means comprising a fan having a housing with the inlet thereof connected to said space for drawing air therethrough and means connected to the outlet of said housing for feeding said partially dried crop into that current of hot air to complete the drying of said crop.

4. A plant for drying green cut crops as set forth in claim 1 further comprising means for separating the fully dried crop from the air current.

5. A plant for drying green cut crops as set forth in claim 1 further characterized in that the means attached to the outside of said inner drum for moving the crop through the space between said drums comprises warm blades, said blades being perforated to facilitate passage of air therethrough.

6. A plant for drying green cut crops as set forth in claim 1 further comprising means consisting of a pair of rotatable perforated drums positioned substantially parallel to each other and having a small space therebetween for receiving the dried crop and means for rotating said perforated drums in opposite directions.

EDGAR WILFRED BORROW.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 486,806 Batoheller Nov. 22, 1892 617,816 Senier et al Jan. 17, 1899 684,996 MacFarlane Oct. 22, 1901 1,039,385 De C. Greene Sept. 24, 1912 1,771,141 Renneburg July 22, 1930 1,988,678 Arnold Jan. 22, 1935 

